Jon Stewart voted most influential man

Image Credit: Frank Ockenfels 3/Comedy Central Record 20867981Jon Stewart was voted the “most influential man” in a recent poll, topping Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Jobs, and Kanye West, who rounded out the top five. Stephen Colbert clocked in at number 11, Conan O’Brien at 12, Matt Weiner at 20, and Barack Obama came in 21st.

O…kay. I mean, I love Jon Stewart, and if this means more dudes are going to try to be politically aware, actively hilarious, and aggressively intelligent, then yay. I for one would like to see more of this influence, please!

But of course, this list isn’t really about influence: It’s about buzz. (And pageviews.) Is JetBlue flight attendant Steven Slater an American hero? Of course. Is he influential? Well, only in the sense that we were all influenced to read stories about him. Everyone loves Drew “Breesus” Brees, but would he be so high on this list if he wasn’t wearing a Super Bowl ring? Probably not.